ARTICLE TEN

Jan 26, 2007 4:02 PM

LEAVES

A. Cumulative Absence Reserves and Sick Leave

1. Employees on regular appointment reinstated after retirement will be credited with the cumulative reserves remaining to their credit upon retirement and such reserves as they accumulated as regular substitutes.

2. Employees on regular appointment who resign or retire will be credited upon resuming service as regular substitutes with 120/200 of the unused cumulative reserves remaining to their credit upon resignation or retirement.

3. Employees on regular appointment who have accepted regular substitute psychologist or social worker positions in order to establish eligibility for the regular psychologist or social worker license, and who have cumulative reserves as a result of prior Board service, will be credited with such reserves during their period of substitute service.

4. Employees on regular appointment called to military duty will be credited upon their return with the same sick leave allowance for the period of their military service as they would have been entitled to in Board service.

5. Employees on regular appointment whose licenses are terminated will be credited with 120/200 of their unused cumulative reserves if they then serve as regular substitutes, or, if appointed anew, with their unused cumulative reserves.

6. Employees of the Board of Higher Education who transfer to the Board shall have their cumulative reserves transferred and credited to them, but not in excess of the maximum number of days creditable in this system.

7. Unused sick leave accumulated as a per diem substitute or as a paraprofessional shall be transferable to the employee “bank” as a regular substitute or appointed psychologist or social worker.

8. An employee on regular appointment who has exhausted his/her cumulative sick leave may borrow up to 20 days of additional sick leave. However, in order to assure that borrowed sick leave is repaid, the employee may be required to sign an appropriate document prepared by the Board acknowledging a legal obligation to repay upon the cessation of service. For purposes of this provision “cessation of service” means resignation, retirement, termination for cause or death.

9. Sick leave privileges shall extend to the taking of annual physical checkups or the taking of annual laboratory tests. Such absences shall be limited to one day in each school year.

10. Employees on regular appointment shall be granted absence refunds for illness on application, without a statement from a physician, for a total of no more than 10 days in any school year. Employees will be allowed to use three of such 10 days of sick leave for personal business provided that reasonable advance notice is given to the head of the school Effective September, 2002, employees may use two of the three days allowed for personal business in any school year for the care of ill family members. For the purpose of this provision, family member shall be defined as: spouse; natural, foster or step parent; child; brother or sister; father-in-law; mother-in-law; any relative residing in the household; and domestic partner, provided such domestic partner is registered pursuant to the terms set forth in the New York City Administrative Code Section 3-240 et seq.. Days off for personal business are intended to be used only for personal business which cannot be conducted on other than a school day and during other than school hours.

11. Regular substitute employees shall be granted absence refunds for illness on application, without a statement from a physician, for no more than five days in one school term. However, regular substitute employees who serve two terms in one school year shall be granted a total of no more than 10 such absence refunds during the two terms, three of which may be used for personal business provided that reasonable advance notice is given to the head of the school. Days off for personal business are intended to be used only for personal business which cannot be conducted on other than a school day and during other than school hours.

12. Employees serving in schools shall not suffer loss of sick bank days for absence due to illness from the following children’s diseases: rubeola (measles), epidemic parotitis (mumps), and varicella (chicken pox). It is understood that this paragraph does not apply to rubella (German measles).

13. The Board will approve absences without loss of sick bank days for employees who contract Hepatitis B as a result of working with children who have been evaluated as presenting a substantial risk of exhibiting acting out behavior.

14. Employees who are absent due to allergic or positive reaction from a skin test shall not suffer loss of sick bank days.

15. Employees who resign or retire shall, upon application, receive termination pay on the basis of one-half of up to 200 days of the unused sick leave accumulated as a regularly-appointed or regular substitute employee. If the resignation or retirement becomes effective at any time other than the end of a school year, sick leave for the period of service during that school year shall be paid at the rate of one day for each two full months of service. Termination pay pursuant to this provision shall be paid in three equal cash installments payable two months, fourteen months and twenty-six months following his/her termination date.

16. The estate of an employee who dies during the term of this contract shall receive termination pay calculated on the same basis. This paragraph shall not apply to those employees who are presumed to have retired on the day immediately preceding their death pursuant to Section 13-545 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, as amended.

17. Absence for illness after September 1, 1967, will be charged on a day-for-day basis to any unused sick leave accumulated prior to September 1, 1967.

18. Absence immediately prior to resignation shall be paid on the same basis as termination pay.

19. Employees on sabbatical leaves of absence shall not accrue days in their cumulative absence reserves for the period of the sabbatical leave.

B. Sabbatical Leaves

1. Employees on regular appointment will be eligible for sabbatical leave for study or restoration to health after each 14 years of service. The first 14 years of service may include a maximum of three years of substitute service for which salary credit was granted. Courses for study sabbatical shall be job related in accordance with criteria established by the Chancellor.

2. Approval of the school medical director is required for all sabbaticals for restoration to health. Employees on regular appointment who have less than 14 years of service will be eligible only for a “special sabbatical leave for restoration to health” after seven years of service on regular appointment.

A "special sabbatical leave for restoration to health" shall be for a period of six months, beginning on August 1 and ending on January 31 of the following year or beginning on February 1 and ending on July 31 of the same year. However, a “special sabbatical leave for restoration to health” may be taken for a period of at least one month but less than six months under the following circumstances:

a. The employee meets all the eligibility criteria for a six-month “special sabbatical leave for restoration to health.”

b. The employee has exhausted his/her cumulative absence reserve.

c. The school medical director will determine when the employee is fit to return to duty. The superintendent will return the employee to his/her assignment as soon as possible, but in no event later than the beginning of the next marking period following the date of return determined by the school medical director unless there is a valid educational reason for a different assignment.

d. The employee will be deemed to have exhausted years of service for sabbatical eligibility based upon the formula:

Calendar Days of Leave x 7 years

180

3. A sabbatical leave shall be for a period of one year, beginning on August 1 and ending on July 31 of the following year.

4. Employees on sabbatical leave of absence shall receive compensation at the rate of seventy (70) percent of the employee’s regular salary. The sabbatical leave pay of employees who receive a bonus shall be based upon their annual salary and the amount of the annual bonus received. The sabbatical leave pay of employees who received a license salary differential shall be based upon their annual salary and the amount of the license differential.

5. Employees on "special sabbatical leave for restoration to health" (as defined in paragraph 2 above) shall receive compensation at the rate of sixty (60) percent of their regular salary during such leave. The pay for the “special sabbatical leave for restoration to health" (as defined in paragraph 2 above) of employees who receive a bonus shall be based upon their annual salary and the amount of the annual bonus received. The pay for the “special sabbatical leave for restoration to health" of employees who receive a license salary differential shall be based upon their annual salary and the amount of the license differential.

6. Employees serving a probationary period in the psychologist or social worker license as a second license shall be permitted to take a sabbatical leave of absence or a "special sabbatical leave for restoration to health " (as defined in paragraph 2 above) during such period if they are otherwise eligible; however, there shall be no reduction, by reason of such leave, of the total probationary period which they are required to serve.

7. An application for a sabbatical leave of absence or for a "special sabbatical leave for restoration to health” (as defined in paragraph 2 above) will not be denied to an eligible employee unless the leave would be contrary to applicable regulations. When the number of eligible applicants in any school or organizational unit exceeds the number of sabbatical leaves and "special sabbatical leaves for restoration to health" (as defined in paragraph 2 above) permissible under applicable regulations, applications shall be granted in the school or organizational unit in order of the city-wide seniority of the applicants. For this purpose, in the case of applications for sabbatical leave seniority shall be determined by the number of years of service usable for eligibility for sabbatical leave, minus the years required for each sabbatical leave or special sabbatical leave for restoration to health (as defined in paragraph 2 above) already taken.

8. Upon return from a sabbatical leave or “special sabbatical leave for restoration to health,” employees will return to the district or high school superintendency to which they were assigned before they began their sabbatical. In the event that excessing is made necessary, employees on a sabbatical leave of absence shall be subject to the excessing regulations then in effect.

9. In accordance with the LOBA determination and award in Case No. IA-1-85, the sabbatical cap shall be 5%. Effective September 1998 five percent of regularly appointed staff within the discipline assigned to the superintendency will be eligible for sabbatical. Staff assigned to HHVIs will be grouped together and a cap of five percent of regularly appointed staff within a discipline assigned to HHVIs will be eligible for sabbatical. Staff assigned to Pre School Regional Assessment Centers (PRACs) will be grouped together and a cap of five percent of regularly appointed staff within a discipline assigned to PRACs will be eligible for sabbatical.

Notwithstanding the 5% sabbatical cap, the taking of a sabbatical shall not cause a hardship in any department or subject area.*

10. In accordance with the LOBA determination and award in Case No. IA-I-85, sabbaticals shall be conditional upon the employee remaining in the New York City school system for two (2) years after the employee's return. Sabbaticals of six months or less shall be conditional upon the employee remaining in the New York City school system for one (1) year after the employee’s return. Failure to comply with the applicable return provision shall make the employee liable to the New York City Board of Education for the salary that the employee received during the sabbatical period. If upon return from sabbatical, the services of the employee are terminated during the applicable return period, the requirement for any refund shall be eliminated.

If an employee is unable to return from a sabbatical or is unable to complete the applicable service requirement upon return from a sabbatical due to a medical incapacity which has developed since the commencement of the sabbatical such employee shall receive a hardship exception to this return provision. Such hardships shall be reviewed and approved by the Board’s Medical Division on a case by case basis. Employees who retire pursuant to Chapter 30 of the laws of 1996 shall not be subject to the provisions of this subsection 10.

C. Special Study Sabbatical to Achieve Certification

1. Psychologists and social workers on regular appointment may apply for a special one year or six month sabbatical leave of absence for study to be granted for the following purposes:

a. Study to meet certification requirements for a license designated by the Board of Education and the Union as a shortage area; and/or

b. Study to become certified in the license appropriate to the psychologist’s or social worker’s current assignment.

The Board and the Union will meet annually to decide the number of these special sabbatical leaves for study to be granted depending on the funds available for this purpose.

2. These special sabbatical leaves of absence for study will be granted to the senior applicants with priority for those who need 16 credits or less to complete certification.

3. This special sabbatical leave of absence for study may be for a period of one year or for a period of six months. One year special sabbatical leaves of absence for study begin on August 1 and end on July 31 of the following year. Six month special sabbatical leaves of absence for study begin on August 1 and end on January 31 of the following year or begin on February 1 and end on July 31 of the same year.

4. A psychologist or social worker on special sabbatical leave of absence for study shall receive compensation at the rate of seventy (70) percent of the psychologist’s or social worker’s regular salary. The sabbatical leave pay of employees who receive a bonus shall be based upon their annual salary and the amount of the annual bonus received. The sabbatical leave pay of psychologists and social workers who receive a license salary differential shall be based upon their annual salary and the amount of the license differential.

5. A psychologist or social worker who receives this special sabbatical leave of absence for study will commit to completing certification and will accept assignment to serve in the license area for a minimum of two years.

6. The Board and the Union will jointly seek funding to provide tuition reimbursement for psychologists and social workers on these sabbaticals.

7. These special sabbatical leaves of absence for study are not subject to the five percent cap, but shall count as used sabbaticals in determining eligibility for any future sabbatical.

8. The substitute service creditable toward sabbatical leave eligibility pursuant to paragraph 1 of Section B above may be applied to a twelve month special sabbatical leave of absence for study. Furthermore, such substitute service, if otherwise creditable toward sabbatical leave eligibility, shall not be lost or diminished as a result of taking a six-month special sabbatical leave of absence for study.

9. Administrative procedures for the effectuation of these provisions are to be formulated by the Board in consultation with the Union.

D. TB Sabbaticals

Psychologists and social workers excused from service by the Board of Health of the City of New York because of tuberculosis may be granted up to five terms of sabbatical leave. Approval of the School Medical Director is required. Sabbaticals of this type are granted without reference to other regulations at the rate applicable to special sabbatical leaves for restoration to health.

E. Leaves of Absence Without Pay

1. Purposes for Which Granted

Leaves of absence without pay shall be granted upon application for the following purposes:

a. Study related to the employee’s license field;

b. Study to meet eligibility requirements for a license other than that held by the employee;

c. Acceptance of a teaching position in a foreign country for one year, with such leave renewable for an additional year. Such teaching position shall be sponsored or approved by the government of the United States.

The Board will recommend to the Teachers’ Retirement Board the granting of retirement credit for the duration of the aforesaid leaves.

Social workers and psychologists may be granted a leave of absence without pay of up to two years to adjust personal affairs (such as the winding up of a family business on the death or incapacitation of the family member in charge) in accordance with existing rules and regulations. The employee may consult with the Union with respect to the matter. Employees who are denied such a leave may refer the matter to the Chief Executive of the Division of Human Resources for review and final determination.

"Urgent needs” of the region may be asserted by the Board as justifying a temporary denial of any application for leave without pay.

The board will implement a liberal policy concerning the granting of leaves of absence without pay to UFT bargaining unit members who meet the stated criteria for such leaves. Bargaining unit members who are denied such a leave at the school or district level may appeal to the Chief Executive of the Division of Human Resources, for review and final determination

2. Per Diem Service While on Leave

Employees on maternity leave and employees on leave of absence without pay for study and related professional experience shall be permitted to perform per diem service.

F. Military Service Pay

1. Excuse for Selective Service Examination

Employees called for selective service physical examination shall be excused without loss of pay for such purpose.

2. Pay During Military Service

Employees on regular appointment who enter the military service shall be on leave of absence with pay during the first 30 days of such service unless the Board is otherwise required to make payment of salary during such military service.

G. Payment for Jury Duty

Employees who are required to serve on jury duty will receive full salary during the period of such service, subject to their prompt remittance to the Board of an amount equal to the compensation paid to them for such jury duty.

H. Terminal Leave

Terminal leave with pay shall be allowed to those psychologists and social workers who are about to retire who are members of the Board of Education Retirement System. Such terminal leave shall be allowed as follows:

1. In the case of employees with 10 or more years of service, it shall be in an amount equivalent to the amount of sick leave balance to the employee’s credit, with the following exceptions:

(a) The maximum allowable terminal leave shall not exceed one month for every 10 years of service, pro-rated at the rate of three calendar days per year, or major fraction thereof.

(b) The minimum allowable terminal leave shall be one month.

2. In the case of an employee with less than 10 years of service, it shall be in the amount of three calendar days per year of service or major fraction thereof, without regard to sick leave balance.